Classic China with Pandas — 12 Days

Arrive in Hong Kong and transfer to your hotel. The rest of the day is yours to settle in.

Spend the day at leisure in Hong Kong, free to shop, take in the harbour or explore the city on your own.

Take the high-speed train to Guilin and visit Elephant Trunk Hill, the rock formation on the Li River named for its trunk-like shape. In the evening see the Sun and Moon Pagodas, twin towers on Shan Lake lit after dark.

Cruise the Li River past the karst peaks that have made Guilin famous for centuries, then drift the Yulong River through the Ten-Mile Gallery of rounded hills. End in Yangshuo West Street, the old town's lively pedestrian lane.

Travel by high-speed train to Chengdu and rest on arrival, with the evening free to explore the Sichuan capital.

Visit the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, where the endangered animals are raised and studied, then call at Wenshu Monastery, an active Buddhist temple with Tang roots. Later take gaiwan tea in People's Park and walk the Qing-era Jinli Ancient Street.

Travel by high-speed train to Xi'an and visit Daci'en Temple, founded in 648 to house the scriptures brought back from India by the monk Xuanzang. Climb the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, built in 652 to store those texts, then stroll Tang Paradise Never Night City, a quarter evoking Tang-dynasty Chang'an.

See the Terracotta Army, the life-size figures buried to guard the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, who unified the country in 221 BCE. Back in the city, walk the Ming-dynasty City Wall and explore the Muslim Quarter for a look at Xi'an's Chinese Muslim community.

Take the high-speed train to Beijing and rest on arrival, with the evening free in the capital.

Begin at the Forbidden City, the Ming and Qing palace of twenty-four emperors from 1420, then climb Jingshan Park for the view across the rooftops. In the afternoon visit the Summer Palace, the Qing lakeside retreat around Kunming Lake.

Drive to the Great Wall at Mutianyu, a Ming-dynasty section with restored watchtowers, then pass the Bird's Nest (exterior), the lattice stadium built for the 2008 Olympics, on the way back.

Spend the morning at the Temple of Heaven, where Ming and Qing emperors offered annual prayers for a good harvest within the circular Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. Later wander Shichahai's lakeside hutong, walk Qianmen Street and take in the old courtyard lanes that still shape daily Beijing life.